The road to single-payer health care

Charles Krauthammer   "Repeal-and-replace (for Obamacare) is not quite dead. It has been declared so, but what that means is that, for now, the president has (apparently) washed his hands of it and the House Republicans appear unable to reconcile their differences.

"Neither condition need be permanent. There are ideological differences among the various GOP factions, but what’s overlooked is the role that procedure played in producing the deadlock. And procedure can easily be changed.

"House leadership crafted a bill that would meet the delicate requirements of “reconciliation” in order to create a (more achievable) threshold of 51 rather than 60 votes in the Senate. But this meant that some of the more attractive, market-oriented reforms had to be left out, relegated to a future measure (a so-called phase-three bill) that might never actually arrive.

"Yet the more stripped-down proposal died anyway. So why not go for the gold next time? Pass a bill that incorporates phase-three reforms and send it on to the Senate.

"September might be the time for resurrecting repeal-and-replace. That’s when insurers recalibrate premiums for the coming year, precipitating our annual bout of Obamacare sticker shock. By then, even more insurers will be dropping out of the exchanges, further reducing choice and service. These should help dissipate the preemptive nostalgia for Obamacare that emerged during the current debate." . . .

Farkas Friday, so far

Evelyn Farkas Goes Full Sergeant Schultz  "Evelyn Farkas is the former Obama administration/Department of Defense official who appeared on MSNBC earlier this month to explain and vouch for the page-one New York Times story on the Obama administration efforts to get disseminate word of the Trump team’s supposed connection to Russian “hacking.” Farkas left the Department of Defense in late 2015 to become a Clinton campaign adviser. I wrote about her in “A Times source outs herself.”

Appearing on MSNBC on March 2, Farkas spoke as a former Obama administration insider with personal knowledge of the game that was afoot: “I was urging my former colleagues, and, and, frankly speaking, the people on the Hill, it was more actually aimed at telling the Hill people, get as much information as you can – get as much intelligence as you can – before President Obama leaves the administration. Because I had a fear that somehow that information would disappear with the senior [Obama] people who left.” And so on.

"Appearing on CNBC yesterday, however, in the wake of the attention drawn to her comments, Farkas denied knowledge of anything. She only knew what she read in the newspapers. Who doesn’t remember Hogan’s Heroes? She went full Sergeant Schultz." . . .

Tucker Carlson’s evisceration of a lefty prof is more than entertaining

Thomas Lifson  "A counter-narrative is building to the MSM’s constant Trump-hating.  It is not that Trump is driven by hate ("Love Trumps Hate"), rather it is the left that is driven by hate – for America, especially the Trump-voting, America-loving, war-fighting parts of it.  The mainstream media is so widely mistrusted that there is plenty of room for counter-narratives to flourish.

"Last night, Tucker Carlson made an important contribution to the counter-narrative, as he demonstrated his mastery of blood sport interviewing, allowing leftist fools to flaunt their folly and then hanging them with their own words."

You've met this professor before. Remember him from these?

Tucker Carlson interviews professor who struggled ‘not to vomit’ over show of gratitude for soldier

White Professor wants “White Genocide” for Christmas  "A Drexel University professor may just have put himself on the top of the list for most hated people in America after he tweeted a message on Christmas Eve in support of “white genocide.” By the way, the professor who said it is white. Yes, he actually has a PhD in political science. George Ciccariello-Maher, the associate professor at Drexel, tweeted, “All I Want for Christmas is White Genocide.” The school didn’t think it was as funny as he did. The University responded with “While the University recognizes the right of its faculty to freely express their thoughts and opinions in public debate, Professor Ciccariello-Maher’s comments are utterly reprehensible, deeply disturbing, and do not in any way reflect the values of the University.”

When challenged with opposition, his response was usually something like, "I'm sorry you have been so poorly educated that you can't understand me"

Maxine Waters: The media belong to Democrats no matter what.

The press is Waters' world.

A rant about recent media bias, including a flattering article about Maxine Waters
"I woke up this morning to a long article in my morning paper by the AP called “No Holds Barred, Representative Maxine Waters' Remarks Draw Fans.” The brilliant Maxine Waters who recently called out Russia for attacking Korea instead of Crimea. Thank goodness, she didn’t make a serious mistake like misspelling potato." . . .

. . . "Can anyone imagine all the laughs and reporting by Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon, Conan, The Today Show, the View and the rest of the media if Ivanka or the Bush twins had tweeted out that they hoped the picture of Abe Lincoln wearing a Make America Great Again hat wasn’t photo shopped?  Somehow I believe a lot of these people were strangely silent when Chelsea Clinton tweeted that. 

"The bias and agenda of the media is tremendously easy to spot. It is exactly the same as the Democrats’agenda. It is sad that people in the media like Brokaw, Koppel and Lauer pretend they are objective." 

Here’s Video Proof College Students Think All Professors Should Be Anti-Trump

Daily Caller

"Nearly all students at one college signed a petition prohibiting the employment of pro-Trump professors when asked to do so in a video released Thursday.

"Campus Reform contributor Cabot Phillips visited American University in Washington, D.C., to get signatures for a petition that would prevent the university from hiring professors who supported President Donald Trump.

"One faculty member even signed the petition."  
 Read more.

ICE Report Dumps Cold Water On A Favorite Defense Of Sanctuary Cities

Weasel Zippers

"Big surprise, Democratic cities letting violent criminals go, then lying about it…

"Via Daily Caller:

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement report puts a damper on the argument that sanctuary cities aren’t a problem because they only shield non-violent illegal immigrants.

Sanctuary city proponents often say their policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities don’t endanger public safety. But ICE’s latest weekly declined detainer report shows, however, many county and city law enforcement agencies regularly release criminal aliens who have been convicted of violent crimes, including domestic battery and sexual assault.

The report, which covers February 4-10, tallied 47 declined detainer requests from two dozen jurisdictions across the country.

New York City accounted for 12 of those rejections, far more than any other jurisdiction. Among those illegal aliens released by New York jails were several who had been charged or convicted of violent crimes.

Keep reading…

Planned Ann Coulter Visit To UC Berkeley Has Organizers Fearing Another Backlash

5KPIX  "The planned visit by firebrand conservative commentator Ann Coulter to the University of California, Berkeley has officials and organizers worrying about a repeat of the rioting which greeted Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos.

"Coulter’s visit to UC Berkeley isn’t for another month. But student organizers of the event say they are nervous that the visit from the outspoken conservative will spark another massive backlash.

“ 'We are pretty apprehensive right now about everything,” said Pranav Jandahyala, president of the nonpartisan student political organization BridgeCal. “But at the same time, what’s pushing us forward is our optimism. We truly believe we can put on a great event.”

"In January, college Republicans cancelled a talk by right-wing commentator Yiannopoulos after violent protesters smashed windows and started a fire outside the event.

"This time, the college Republicans are working with BridgeCal which says it’s hoping the university has a stronger security plan." . . .

Video: Democratic Filibuster Hypocrisy On Gorsuch

Why people hate politics and politicians

Weasel Zippers

McCaskill Warns Blocking Gorsuch Would Beget a ‘Worse’ SCOTUS Nominee

" . . .McCaskill, a Democrat up for reelection in a state Trump won by a wide margin, has not decided whether to support Gorsuch or the Democratic filibuster. But she warned blocking the current nominee could bode ill for Democrats going forward.

" 'The Gorsuch situation is really hard. There are going to be people in this room that are going to say, ‘No, no, no. You cannot vote for Gorsuch,'" McCaskill said at the fundraiser. "Let's assume for the purposes of this discussion that we turn down Gorsuch, that there are not eight Democrats that vote to confirm him and therefore there's not enough to put him on the Supreme Court. What then?"

"She went through a list of potential nominees and said Gorsuch may be Democrats' best option. The Missouri senator added that in the event Republicans choose another nominee, they would probably use the nuclear option and only need 51 votes.

" 'So they pick another one off the list and then they bring it over to the Senate and we say no, no, no, this one's worse. And there's not enough votes to confirm him. They're not going to let us do that too long before they move it to 51 votes," she said." . . .

The Yanks Over There – 100 Years Ago

Victor Davis Hanson  "One hundred years ago, on April 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I. The ongoing conflict ended just 19 months later with an Allied victory.

. . . 

"Unfortunately, World War I ended with an armistice — at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 — and not with an unconditional surrender of the defeated. Although Germany and Austria-Hungary clearly lost the war, their countries were not occupied and monitored, as would be true after World War II.

"The 1919 Treaty of Versailles that was supposed to bring peace is often blamed for being too harsh on the losers. But it was more complicated than that. The settlement of Versailles combined the very worst of both worlds: blaming the defeated side, but without any means of ensuring that the humiliated losers would not rearm and try their luck again." . . .

"Defeat and occupation force an enemy to cease its aggression. Armistices without a definite result only lead to postponements — and eventually more war. (As with North Korea. TD)
"World War I’s terrible irony is that today its horrible carnage seems even more senseless than the far greater death toll of World War II, which ended quite differently and did not lead to another world war — at least so far."

. . .

Get ready to start paying sales tax on those Amazon purchases

Hot Air

"We’ve spent more time than I’d care to remember talking about the long dormant Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA) here over the past few years. Nothing much ever came of it in terms of new legislation (yet) but one of the key players in that space is obviously Amazon. They’ve fought tooth and nail against the government stepping in and forcing the issue, much to the distress of many brick and mortar outlets.

"But now there’s been a major sea change. It may be because Anthony Kennedy recently said he’d vote to allow states to require such collections. Perhaps it was a number of red states imposing online taxes as trial balloons. Or maybe it’s just because Neil Gorsuch is on his way to serve as a tie-breaker on the Supreme Court and he’s widely considered a states’ rights advocate. Whatever the cause, Amazon has done an about face and announced they’ll be collecting and remitting sales tax in all 45 states that charge it. (Axios)" . . .

Jewish Voice for Peace Featured Speakers List a “Who’s Who” of Israel haters

"Is the group sponsoring this collection of speakers really a Jewish voice for peace?"

jewishvoiceforpeace

Legal Insurrection “ 'Jewish Voice for Peace” bills itself as a Jewish pro-peace organization.

"But JVP is not a Jewish organization. At most it claims to support “Jewish traditions of social justice” as set forth on its 2016 listing of Core Values.

"JVP also is not a pro-peace organization. As our extensive coverage over the years has demonstrated, JVP in reality is dedicated to delegitimizing Israel by providing an “as a Jew” cover for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and others who seek the destruction of Israel." . . .

. . . 

"In addition to these speakers, JVP will be featuring a parade of anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian speakers.

"Notably, no representation of the more standard ‘pro-peace’ line of Israeli (or for that matter) Palestinian speakers will be present. Rather, the speakers, almost to a one, has a record of blaming Israel for racism and aggression (or ‘colonialism’), and, among those who have spoken out on the matter: all support a blame Israel approach that manifests itself in boycotts and hostility to everything Israel.

"This piece will survey some of the Featured Speakers and their history of anti-Israel activism.

As you go through the list, ask yourselves, is the group sponsoring this collection of speakers really a Jewish voice for peace?" . . .

More on these JVP speakers here.

Evelyn Farkas; The US is incompetent to keep it's secrets while Obama is highly skilled at revealing all we know

Who Is Evelyn Farkas and Why Did She Spill The Beans on Obama’s Secret Surveillance Operation?…

Fox News has run two stories:

• FIRST – Former Obama official discloses rush to get intelligence on Trump. (link)
• SECOND – Who is Obama administration official who spilled beans?  (link)

"Stick with the timelines.  If you get stuck, go back to the timeline.  Always go to the timelines. It’s the timelines that trip up the deceivers and the timelines that deliver the truth."

 Gowdy: ‘I Wish… The Other Side Would Be A Little More Outraged’ Over Unmasking Of Private Citizens 3
"Trey Gowdy told CBS “Face the Nation” host John Dickerson Sunday that he’s disappointed that Democrats aren’t “more outraged” over the unmasking of private citizens in relation to the investigation on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election."

“All of this is important, John, every bit of it,” Gowdy added. “The felonious dissemination of classified information is the only thing we know for sure is a crime, and it would be nice if we showed the same level of interest in that.”

Updates:
Former Obama official discloses rush to get intelligence on Trump team

Nobody saw this March 2 interview all this month because, well, who watches MSNBC?

PJ Media adds more to the Farkas story  . . . "According to Powerline's Scott Johnson, Farkas "all but outed herself as a key source" for a New York Times story earlier this month that detailed the Obama administration’s efforts to undermine the incoming Trump administration." . . .